Reader Chris was able to product change an Altitude Reserve card into the new Altitude Go no-fee card. A few notes:
- Reports indicate the card needs to be at least one year old in order to do a product change. That’s consistent with what we see from other issuers as well (I believe it’s a legal thing). Reader Chris waited until the annual fee posted, then called in to downgrade to the Go card. Downgrade was processed and annual fee will be refunded.
- Only Altitude Reserve can be product changed to Altitude Go. Other cards like Flexperks can not be changed over to Altitude Go (reader’s report).
- Presumably you can product change upward from the Go to Reserve as well (though you probably don’t want to do that since signing up for the Reserve directly will get you a better signup bonus).
- If you product change mid-year (after the first year) from the Reserve to the Go, you’ll probably get a prorated annual fee refund. Data points needed.
- When downgrading from Reserve to Go, I assume you keep all the points, but you will no longer be able to cash them out at 1.5 cents per point. Be sure to cash out everything you have, and then do the downgrade.
- When downgrading from Reserve to Go, they’ll issue a new card number, according to reader Chris. (It still should not count as a new card for 5/24 purposes.)
The Altitude Go card is a nice card to have since it has no annual fee, and comes with some nice perks such as $15 annual streaming credit, no foreign transaction fees, and 4x on dining/takeout. Some people won’t feel it worth a new card on their 5/24 record, and this downgrade option is the perfect way of ending an Altitude Reserve relationship, if you decide not to keep that expensive card.
Keep in mind, if you product change to the Go card, you’ll probably never be able to get the sign up bonus on the card, as the terms state: “The bonus is not available to Cardmembers who currently have, or had, a U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Signature account.” If you value the $200 bonus, apply for the Go card directly. (The Go and Reserve card are separate, and you can get the signup bonus on each. Each of the bonuses you can get once in your lifetime.)
We’ll add this to our post on Best Downgrade Options & Rules For Each Card Issuer.
I am reading some data points on flyertalk and reddit that indicated that upgrading to the altitude reserve from another card *does* make one eligible for the signup bonus. Can anyone verify that is true?
Just called the customer service, and I was told that I can get the full refund of the annual fee if I downgrade the card to a no-fee version only within 30 days of the post date, and there’s no prorated refund after 30 days. Not sure if it’s just me or they changed the policy.
Successful did product change from altitude reserve to altitude go after 6 months. You don’t have to wait an year.
Has anyone managed to upgrade from an Altitude Go (back) to an Altitude Reserve? I called and they told me it wasn’t available.
In my last call, the agent told me that it was OK. Maybe you should check whether the time is more than 12 months, and then make a call.
Has the points conversion changed? I checked for cash back on my point balance (52K) and it says I will get $520 which seems to be 1c per point rather than 1.5c. Just downgraded the card from Connect to Go, no questions asked by rep, did the change immediately. However, I forgot to redeem the points, any idea what will happen to them?
Connect is/has always been 1c per point. Reserve was the one that was 1.5c.
Have U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card. What card do I downgrade to and must I use the points first?
You can downgrade to Altitude Go but then you can never get a SUB for the Go. The points should transfer. Personally I would redeem points and close if you’re AF is coming up.
I just called to try to either product change or downgrade. They said nothing was available. My annual fee was billed 3/8. They said I’d had to have cancelled by 4/3 to get it refunded. The only thing that was available was a 10k points retention offer, so I just took that.
My wife just called and was able to downgrade to a no annual fee card – which I assume is the GO card. I would call again.
Is it possible to do a product change from altitude reserve to cash+ after an year?
I did the connect to cash+, but the points is a nightmare
Just thought I’d give a datapoint about my positive conversion experience from the Altitude Reserve to the Altitude Go.
It seems to contradict some of the other information here; perhaps a change in policy/procedure?
My annual fee was charged 6/24/2021. I called in mid-August about cancelling/converting the card as I wasn’t interested in paying the annual fee.
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CSR told me that if I’d *closed* the card within 30 days after fee hit I’d get a full refund of the A/F, so since it had been more than thirty days, I’d get nothing. But if I *converted* the card within the first *90* days after fee, I’d get a full refund of the A/F.
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I put some more Google Pay transactions on the card and then SD’d it until the statement cut. August statement cut with 22,257 points. Early September, I made a $333 payment on a future cruise I had booked earlier, got the text and redeemed 22,200 points for a $333 credit, leaving 57 points on the table. Also ended up with a credit balance ~$75, so called CSR and requested a check for that.
Then called a few days later about the conversion to the Go. Different CSR confirmed that I’d get the A/F refunded if I converted, but was told any remaining points on the account (57¢ worth) would be lost. Went ahead with the conversion.
Couple of days later, $400 credit for the A/F appeared. Inexplicably, next day I got a credit for $.57 for the remaining points. I plan to call to get a check for the $400.57 credit balance.
The points conversion rate was 1c per point? I have 62k points before the conversion (into cash+), now my account is showing zero, panicking, called was told to wait a few days for the reward center to figure it out.
Spouse PC’d platinum to Altitude Go
Did they have to call to do this or were you able to do secure messaging? Looking into doing this too.